India has seen a fall in maternal mortality rate (MMR) by 59 percent between 1990 and 2008, but the huge rural urban divide in these rates are overlooked making it home to the highest number of women dying during childbirth across the world. One such state is Uttar-Pradesh, a highly populous state with more than170 million people which continues to have highest reported maternal mortality ratio at 440 per 100, 000 live births and which still remains above the national average. Even within a state, the access to and utilization of maternal health care varies based on region rural or urban, caste, religion, income, and education. Research has identified four important reasons for the continuing high maternal mortality rate in Uttar Pradesh: barriers to emergency care, poor referral practices, gaps in continuity of care, and improper demands for payment as a condition for delivery of healthcare services.

For the past few weeks I have been captivated by the images of retaliation and revolution in Egypt.Interestingly, however, I found myself not only interested in the stories being reported but with the reporters themselves.Two female reporters in particular made a strong impact on me, Shahira Amin and Christiane Amanpour.While they made themselves known to the public over the past few weeks for different reasons, they are both wonderful examples for Egyptian women in particular but also for women around the world.For such prominent women to make publicly bold statements for everyone to see is a display of female power in Egypt that I hope the revolution continues to encourage.

The leaders of UN Women are at the forefront of a cultural shift in gender equality. Yet it is not enough to merely give women’s issues a place on the global agenda, they must give women a strong, unified voice.

Nationally teen pregnancy rates have fallen and hit a new low in 2009. In contrast, Washington, D.C. teen pregnancy rates have continued to climb. In D.C., The Department of Health reports from 2005-2008, teen pregnancy rose from 852 to 1,082 pregnancies. Furthermore, teen pregnancy in Wards 7 and 8 account for over half of these pregnancies. Babies born to teen mothers in D.C. are more than likely to receive a form of public assistance. Of the families that receive the public assistance (DC Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), nearly 50% are teens. DC cannot continue to allow isolation of communities such as Wards 7 and 8 to determine the destiny of many teens and their families. Teen mothers especially in these communities are ill equipped to provide an environment for raising babies. DC must break the cycle of teen pregnancy and stop the generational dependence on public assistance.

How is it possible Tunisia is a leader of women’s rights in the Arab world, but there are so few female leaders behind the women’s rights changes? How do female leaders emerge without any female leaders working for change?